David Mac (DM):  Greetings Thom. When and where were you born?

Thomas Hirsch (TH): I was born in 1975 in Arras a medium sized city of the Pas de Calais in the north of France.

DM: Tell us a little about your upbringing.                                       

TH: I was raised with my sister and my brother in a good and stable family environment. I was educated there in a middle and high school. I didn’t feel very integrated at school, because there was a kind of elitism which saddened me, even if I had rather good results. Luckily, I had two good friends with which I spent real good times because we had the same hobbies.

DM: Such as…

TH: We loved music and liked playing instruments. That’s how I got closer to blues music and to the instruments associated with that music. By the time I was around fifteen years old I really started to turn towards music as a real passion and discovered it was a nice way to express my feelings.

DM: Do you come from a musical family?

TH: I was the first one to bring an instrument home. It was a Hondo guitar, a kind of  copy of a Stratocaster, but I didn’t wait to own my first guitar to play. In fact, I was air playing with a tennis racket in front of a mirror in my parents’ bedroom when I was a little kid.

DM: Do you remember some of your first exposures to music and how that had an impact on you?

TH: I was 15 and was just screwing around in my middle school when a friend of mine made me listen to the Just One Night album by Eric Clapton. The tune was Double Trouble.

DM: The old Otis Rush tune…

TH: Yes…it was a real commotion for me, as I had never heard anything like that before. It represented an open door to a kind of music I really didn’t know. After that I discovered each day new artists and blues became the only music I was listening to.

DM: Under what circumstances did you first hear real blues music ?

TH: I started to listen to American music when I first started to play in a band with my hometown friends. We started to search real Afro-American blues musicians. That’s how we turned towards Chicago blues with the first Freddy King, Muddy Waters, BB King and Buddy Guy albums. Then I really started to work on the early Chicago sound and I still work a lot on the West Coast sound.

DM: Did you have a teacher or mentor that was particularly helpful or influential?

TH: Not in any formal sense, but I’ve been learning and still learn with my favorite artists. I listen to their music. They are my teachers. I can’t read or write music. I listen a lot and constantly try to create my own style.

DM: Were you able to find others who enjoyed playing this style of music?

TH: When I started to play blues at the age of 15, it was not easy to find passionate musicians like me, loving the same music because a lot of people of my generation weren’t listening to that kind of music, but I managed to form my first band with my best friends who were also starting to explore more and more Afro-American music of the 50’s . I had to evolve in that environment and meet other musicians that shared these preferences. When I moved to Dunkirk (where I live now), it was an opportunity for me to explore the swing and blues of the 50’s even more and to develop new projects.

DM: Who were you listening to in those days?

TH: I started to get interested in singing guitarists or instrumental guitarists. I loved the ones who were mixing jazz and blues like Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl. I started to collect early swing and blues CDs like Tiny Grimes and Bill Jennings as I began to listen to more and more swing and blues instrumental guitarists. I also love the early sides by Freddy King especially those instrumentals. Then there is Mickey Baker, Lafayette Thomas and others.

DM: Aside from Duke and Ronnie are there any other contemporary players who have had an impact on your approach to the music?

TH: Absolutely…as a guitar player I have a great admiration for Junior Watson, Alex Schultz and Charlie Baty. I also love Al Blake and his formidable authenticity in his approach to blues and harmonica. I am a total fan of west coast blues and I’ve discovered several artists from listening to artists on the Delta Groove Music label.  

DM: Let’s talk about some of your early band experiences.

TH: I started to play in a band by 17 in my hometown. We played a lot of B.B. King music in private parties, or associative parties organized by local town halls. We played essentially Chicago blues. 

We were still inexperienced, but it’s at that very moment that I really discovered the excitement to play on stage, but also nerves and strong feelings that go with live music. Thereafter, paradoxically, I gave up the guitar during my studies in Lille. It is during this time I met my wife.

We then moved to Dunkirk where I’ve met other musicians who play in a much more serious way. I really started playing in bands again, first with Rico and friends. Then it was onto The Blues Eaters, a band in which I’m still playing and finally my new band, Thom and the Tone Masters.

DM: My first exposure to your music came by way of The Blues Eaters. Let’s talk about that band.

TH: I’m one of the founding members since 2008. It’s a band which plays on French and other European stages. We’ve already played in Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Belgium. The band has also been created by singer and guitarist Norman Rosaia. Olivier Mahieu is our bassist and Stéphane Moureu who is now the drummer in my new band, Thom and the Tone Masters. We have three albums out. A fourth album is being prepared for 2017.

DM: How would you describe the sound of The Blues Eaters?

TH: It’s a fine blend of jump, west coast and Chicago blues.

DM: I couldn’t help but notice that you are a fellow lefty.

TH: Yes, I’m a left handed player, but a natural left handed player. In fact I’m a daily right handed man, but the first time I picked up a guitar I was unable to play with my right hand. It was totally natural with left hand. I play upside down. I think it makes me play differently. Perhaps more melody or more work with the right hand on the neck. The challenge is mainly to find good guitars for a left handed player. Dan Dunham and Patrick Robert Jerein from here in France are making extraordinaire guitars and that’s what I use.

DM: Let’s talk about the new album Rhythm Shot and your new band Thom and the ToneMasters. First off, thanks for getting that CD into my hands via our friend Jeff Scott Fleenor. As I mentioned on our recommended listening portion of BLUES JUNCTION, it is as if that record was custom made for my ears.

TH: I’m very glad you like it David. This project was close to my heart for a long time. For me the CD is a final outcome in human and artistic terms.  The band is composed of Stéphane Moureu who I mentioned before. He is very talented with a roots style in the spirit of ancient drummers like Fred Below. At the double bass is Bertrand Couloume. He is the double bassist of Little Bob and the Blue Bastards and of Christian Garros Big Band. Eric Preterre our saxophone player is a member of the Christian Garros Big Band. Franck Deshays handles the rhythm guitar duties. This, our first album by Thom and the Tone Masters, was recorded in live conditions at the studio du Flâneur near Rouen.

The idea was to produce a swing and blues instrumental album. We wanted it to be festive, original, varied and dancing, while remaining modern. I’m fascinated by all these instrumental pieces like the ones Mickey Baker, Ike Turner and Tiny Grimes did where they tell stories with their instrument without  pretending to be guitar heroes. On the album, Rhythm Shot there are also compositions by Eric Preterre and myself. The sound is vintage, but the unity remains modern.

DM: I love your choice of material from Pee Wee Crayton to Mickey Baker and from Earl Hooker to that wonderful Nick Curran tune Stompin' at the Fort. However, it is one of your originals that I’m curious about. Waiting for Myriam has a very contemplative jazzy feel.

TH: Thanks David for bringing that up. That song is a personal tribute to Myriam Monsonago. She was one of the victums of the terrorist attack in Toulouse in 2012. She was only eight years old. This song is a personal and symbolic way for me to pay homage and to shatter the pain and suffering. The idea was to create a certain type of atmosphere found in melancholy jazz ballads.

DM: You have achieved something very special with that song and it is a departure from much of the more upbeat material on the album. Nicely done.

What is the blues scene like these days in France?

TH: Unfortunately, the French blues scene is very developed for blues-rock.  

DM: So that wretched music that appeals to the lowest common donominator amongst us has found its way to France. That’s a shame. Listening to that music would be like eating at McDonald’s in Paris or voting for Donald Trump.

TH: Yes, that is true, but the good news is that there are still some festivals who put blues music on their stages. On the coast near Dunkirk, there are two nice festivals which offer blues, the Bay Car and the Beautiful Swamp Blues Festival. Happily, some small or medium sized festivals always allow to play that kind of music we love…real blues.

I had the chance to play in Belgium, in Switzerland and in Poland and I’ll always remember the greeting and kindness of those people who came to listen to blues music.

DM: There is definitely a certain esprit de corps amongst the fans and amongst the musicians who play this music. It is kind of a special bond that holds the whole thing together. It connects us regardless of where we are from, where we live and what we look like.

TH: That is a great point and is so true. Everything happens with the blues, you can never predict anything. When I started playing in bands, I’d never have thought I would have played with musicians like Junior Watson. I didn’t understand everything he told me. I remember him smoking a cigar, pulling out a pocket watch and telling me that is was time to go play and he left to play. That may seem inconsequential to somebody else, but for me it was a great moment.

DM: Which brings up another important point. This is another example of an important tenet of blues music. There is no generation gap and no language barrier if you both speak in the blues dialect. The concept of a generation gap is a providence of white rock&roll and simply doesn’t apply to blues, as this music is timeless.  

TH: It is why I love blues and rhythm and blues because for me it is such emotionally rich music. There are memories, sad or happy moments that tell the whole story of life. That is hard to find in other entertainment mediums and in other forms of music. 

DM: Well said Thom. Thanks for all the great music.

TH: Thanks David for taking an interest in my music. It means a lot to me.

Like learning about up & coming artists?  Support our efforts and click here.

<-